Ministry of Agriculture Promotes Paddy Gogo Intercropping in Palm Plantations to Boost Food Sustainability

Palm Oil Magazine
The event took place in Jorong District, Tanah Laut Regency, South Kalimantan, on Thursday, December 26, 2024. Photo by: Ditjenbun

PALMOILMAGAZINE, SOUTH KALIMANTAN – In a move to support food self-sufficiency, Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), through the Directorate General of Plantations (Ditjenbun), in collaboration with the South Kalimantan Provincial Government and Tanah Laut Regency, officially launched an intercropping program for Paddy Gogo in palm oil plantations. The event took place in Jorong District, Tanah Laut Regency, South Kalimantan, on Thursday, December 26, 2024.

The event was attended by Acting Director General of Plantations, Heru Tri Widarto, alongside representatives from the South Kalimantan Provincial and Tanah Laut Regency Governments.

Read More

This initiative aims to implement the directives of the Minister of Agriculture, emphasizing the importance of developing dryland rice, including in palm oil plantation areas, to strengthen national food security. Heru highlighted the critical need for cross-sectoral collaboration to address food security challenges, involving military support for Paddy Gogo and police assistance for corn cultivation.

Also Read: Mukomuko Successfully Replanted 906 Hectares of Oil Palm in 2024

“Intercropping Paddy Gogo in palm oil plantations is a positive step towards achieving food self-sufficiency. This program not only boosts local food production but also promotes sustainable land management,” Heru stated, as quoted by Palmoilmagazine.com from the official Ditjenbun website.

Heru further elaborated on the national target for Paddy Gogo, which covers 890,000 hectares. Of this, 535,000 hectares are suitable for intercropping, with an estimated productivity of 2 tons per hectare, yielding approximately 640,000 tons of rice.

Representing the Governor of South Kalimantan, Hj. Husnul Khatimah, Expert Staff for Community Affairs and Human Resources, emphasized the dual role of palm oil in regional and national economies, alongside its potential to support sustainability and food security.

“As a major palm oil-producing region, South Kalimantan plays a strategic role in the national economy. This program optimizes plantation lands to support food self-sufficiency, particularly in Paddy Gogo cultivation,” Husnul remarked.

Also Read: President Prabowo: Palm Oil is a Strategic Commodity to Protect

The South Kalimantan Provincial Government reaffirmed its commitment to sustainable palm oil development, as outlined in Governor Regulation No. 013 of 2023 on the Regional Action Plan for Sustainable Palm Oil Plantations. The government also encouraged collaboration between smallholder farmers and plantation companies to improve community economic welfare.

“This initiative is part of our efforts to drive equitable economic growth by optimizing land use sustainably. We also encourage partnerships between farmers and companies to achieve shared prosperity,” Husnul added.

The Paddy Gogo intercropping program has been well-received by local palm oil farmers and surrounding communities. It is expected to serve as a model for environmentally friendly palm oil plantation management while contributing to food self-sufficiency in South Kalimantan and Indonesia as a whole. (P3)

READ MORE ON GOOGLE NEWS. or Let's join the Telegram group "Palm Oil Magazine", click the link Channel PalmOilMagazine, and join. You must first install the Telegram application on your android.

Related posts

Leave a Reply